Chapter 32:

Chapter 32 Sombravelle’s Feast

I Don’t Take Bull from Anyone, Not Even a Demon Lord


The interior of the royal tent was suffocating.

The air was thick with heat and incense—stale and cloying, like a shrine long abandoned. Rich velvet drapes hung from gilded poles, their once-luxurious folds now sagging under the weight of unseen tension. In the center, a long ceremonial table stretched from end to end, though one side had buckled, the legs cracked and splintered under the weight of collapsed bodies. Nobles. Knights. Their armor dulled by sweat and sleep. Some had mouths slightly parted, others gripped the arms of their chairs like they’d tried to wake up and failed.

They weren’t dead. Not yet. But they weren’t living either.

And there, hunched above them like a vulture over a feast, stood the thing.

Sombravelle.

Its shape didn’t make sense—not just strange, but wrong. Its limbs were too long and thin, bending at odd angles like broken branches. Where sleeves once flowed now hung rotting silks that clung to it like wet skin. A stitched grin stretched from one cheek to the other, too wide for a human face. Golden thread bound its eyes shut, but faint orange light still glowed beneath the seams. Its black claws hovered just above the queen’s throat, drawing in the shimmer of her breath, slow and steady, like someone sipping from a stolen cup.

Kai stepped forward. His voice was steady. “You must be the one feeding off their minds.”

Sombravelle turned its head toward him. Slow. Deliberate. The sound that came out wasn’t quite a voice—it was dry and brittle, like torn parchment scraping along tile.

“Their dreams are delicious,” it rasped. “So much regret. So much entitlement. They are rich meals, these kings and queens.”

Revoli gagged from behind him. “Ugh, creepy and smug. Can we kill it now?”

Fara had already raised her staff-spear. Her face was stone. “Let’s take it down.”

Kai didn’t take his eyes off the creature. “We do this clean. Keep distance. Don’t let it touch you.”

Sombravelle straightened, its robes dragging against the rug with a sound like slithering leaves. “Ah… the dream-walker,” it murmured. “You’re the reason the fog broke.”

Kai’s grip on his weapons tightened. “I’m the reason you’ll break, too.”

The creature lunged.

---

Smoke burst from Revoli’s pouch in loud pops and flares—thick clouds that turned the air into blinding white. Fara shouted an incantation, her voice sharp and clear, and cast a layered barrier in front of them just in time. The demon’s claws slammed into the shield, tearing through the front of the tent like parchment.

Skye was already on the move, ducking low and slicing at the creature’s knees. Her blade whistled—but passed through nothing. Just smoke.

“Above!” she shouted, spinning away.

Sombravelle dropped from the ceiling like a broken puppet, limbs dangling until it landed with unnatural grace. Fara twisted her body and thrust her spear upward, catching it in the chest. The tip sank deep into its robes. It shrieked—but its body melted around the weapon and reformed just feet away.

“It’s like fighting fog!” Fara growled.

Then the demon struck. One claw lashed out and caught her in the side, sending her flying into a stack of chairs. Her tails whipped violently as she gasped in pain.

“Fara!” Skye’s voice cracked as she dashed toward her.

But Sombravelle spun and slammed into her next, claws sweeping like a fan. Skye grunted as the hit landed square in her ribs, knocking her back into the canvas wall.

Kai didn’t think. He moved. His batons flashed in his hands as he blocked the next swipe aimed at Revoli. Sparks flew as he deflected the blow and twisted his stance, forcing the creature back.

Revoli skidded to the side, chest heaving. “Okay. Not fun anymore.”

Kai could outpace it. Outfight it. But even he couldn’t be in four places at once.

Sombravelle hissed and split. Shadowy limbs burst from its sides, stretching into the air like wings, until four twisted versions of the demon emerged—each with warped mouths and clawed arms. They laughed.

Fara tried to raise a shield, but her magic sputtered. Skye was trying to stand. Revoli dug into her belt, pulling her last few bombs free.

Kai’s jaw clenched.

He could keep shielding them. Protecting. Blocking.

Or he could end it.

He shifted his feet and lowered his stance.

“I’m ending this,” he said.

He stomped once. The air around him rippled. The walls of the tent bent slightly inward.

His batons flew back into his grip.

He ran—not to protect. To strike.

Fara caught it first and shouted, “Give him space!” forcing herself up to her knees.

Skye fired a bolt into one of the clones, just enough to stagger it. Revoli tossed a flash bomb, the burst of light blinding the others for a heartbeat.

And Kai tore through them.

He drove one baton up into Sombravelle’s chin—hard. The other crashed into the center of its chest. But these weren’t just physical blows. As they landed, the air around them twisted.

“You feed on dreams?” Kai snarled. “Let me show you mine.”

The ground pulsed beneath them. Gravity flipped for a second—just enough to disorient the creature’s forms.

Sombravelle screeched, its clones unraveling and collapsing in on themselves.

Kai slammed his crossed batons into the demon’s chest.

A white wave of energy burst outward.

The glyph beneath the creature pulsed—etched there by Fara’s last reserve of strength.

Kai dropped to one knee, hand pressing to the symbol.

Sombravelle trembled.

“You dream of peace…” it hissed, voice flickering. “You’ll choke on it.”

And then it was gone.

---

The nobles stirred. The queen gasped, her breath returning.

Kai stood slowly, his hands shaking.

The girls gathered around him—bruised, exhausted, but alive.

“This world…” he muttered. “It’s not a dream, is it?”

No one answered.

They didn’t need to.

And far away, beneath a ruined castle in the valley of shadows, a woman with curled horns opened her crimson eyes.

“Soon,” Malrissa whispered. “Soon I’ll meet the dream-walker.”

Ramen-sensei
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